The Circle Goes On
by Glimmers
Summary: Cornelia sends her son off on his first dangerous mission. Corny x Aldarn. Experimental pairing piece.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own WITCH.

 **Title:** The Circle Goes On

 **Summary:** Cornelia sends her son off on his first dangerous mission. Corny x Aldarn. Experimental pairing piece.

* * *

The throne room of Meridian was, outside of official events and occasions, never too busy. In truth, It was a bit too formal for most, and Queen Elyon had never liked lounging there the way her brother had.

But today, it was almost full; The Queen and her family, two generations of guardians, _their_ select family members, not to mention many of the former rebels and soldiers who had helped in the various fights against evil.

It was no official party that called them here today, it was something much less sinister than that.

"I can't believe he's all grown up already," Cornelia said, watching with teary eyes as her son bid goodbye to the royal prince and princess. Unlike many of the nobles, who were intimidated by the siblings, Orion was far too intimate with his "cousins", ruffling the young princess's hair and teasing the prince about being too young to go.

"I'm only a year younger than you, Orion," Garrett muttered, straightening his crown after Orion used his head as an armrest.

"Aldarn, can you believe he's this old?" Cornelia asked, turning to her husband.

" _I_ can't believe he's this insolent," Aldarn said, though there was a hint of admiration in his voice. Cornelia would scold him about that later.

"We let Irma babysit too much," the blonde agreed, looking over to her son.

At sixteen, she had pictured her perfect babies. Small, pale, with light brown hair and green eyes and chubby little baby arms. As adults, she thought they'd blend the attractive features of her and Caleb and be models on Earth.

Now, twenty years later, she barely remembered what it was like to want to jump Caleb's bones, and her own almost-adult son… well.

"He look's like you, you know," she said in a soft voice, turning to Aldarn.

"You say that like it's a compliment."

She rolled her eyes.

"Look, honey, you're married to _me_. You're gonna have to stop pretending you're not attractive."

He raised a playful eyebrow, about to challenge her, but saw something in her face that stopped him.

"I truly am a lucky man," was all he said, taking her hand.

She turned to her son; his father's slightly green skin, the odd rock-like formations that grew perfectly to accentuate his sharp cheekbones and handsome features. His hair had been a surprise, Aldarn admitted that most of his kind rarely grew it, but it was a dark black, as luxurious as Cornelia's if not the same color.

Orion made his rounds slowly, clearly thinking this far too much pomp and circumstance for the occasion, but willing to humor his various honorary relatives. He even let Kadma lecture him about keeping up at his green-speaking practice, though she knew as well as he did that the boy had mastered the art already (much to the chagrin of everybody who tried to keep anything secret around the castle plants). He stooped low to let Yan-Lin kiss his cheek, allowed Elyon to tease him with her I'm-a-serious-monarch-who-never-purposefully-allowed-you-to-get-away-with-any-nonsense-just-to-piss-off-your-mother act, and gave Taranee's small son a piggyback ride around the room, before coming to stop at his parents.

"So, mom, gonna see your home planet. You know, once I learn where to get chocolate, I'm not gonna need you anymore, right?"

Cornelia pulled him into a hug so tight she could hear his back crack.

"Ow- mom, mom, I was kidding, really, I'm always gonna need you… dad, _help_."

Aldarn gently pried the weeping Cornelia off of their son.

"Of course you'll still need me…" the weepy guardian said, "You still can't dress yourself for anything."

Orion smiled and turned to his father.

"Dad," he began, but seemed unable to finish the sentence.

"Hey, listen kid, advice on getting an earth girl; ask them to do a three-sixty-fakie-ollie with you. Works like a charm."

"If by _like a charm_ you mean that it takes about four years, multiple boyfriends, and a lot of unrequited pining to work, then yeah, like a charm."

"Hey, I got you, didn't I? I mean, I have pretty concrete proof of that," he said, pointing to Orion.

"Ew, gross you guys. Seriously, I'm leaving on my first Earth mission, and this is how you behave?"

"Oh, my baby is leaving…"

Orion was once again pulled into a crushing hug, but this time his father did nothing to stop Cornelia.

"Corny, come on, he's going to Earth for _one_ _day_ , to track a creature he's fought a million times, and me and Caleb will be watching out for him the whole time."

"I know, Will, I do, it's just…" finally, she let Orion go, and held him by his shoulders at arm's length. What could she say to his boyish face that he would understand? To him, the world was a big, dangerous adventure, and he was going to enjoy every second of risking his life in it. Suddenly, she understood why her mother had been so angry with her when she revealed the truth about guardians.

"Okay, you should go now, before I start crying again."

"I don't think Aunt Will can fold that fast, mom."

"Okay, you're coming with me," Caleb said, walking by and grabbing Orion by the scruff of his neck. The former rebel-leader, current captain of the guard, turned to two of the people he cared about most in this world. "Don't worry, your son is safe with me." Aldarn's nod was a reassurance that he believed that statement.

Will opened the fold and heaved a sigh.

"Not as easy as it used to be," she said with a knowing smile at Yan-Lin, which Cornelia didn't have the focus to notice, before flying through. Caleb followed her.

Orion had almost one foot through the portal when he looked back at his mother and smiled.

"I promise, I'll be back before you know I'm gone," he said, before disappearing into the blue fold.

Eventually, the party dispersed, ready to convene again that night for the feast at Orion's inevitable successful return.

"You know," Aldarn said as they sat in their chambers, trying to distract themselves from thinking of all the various ways this could go wrong, "I never got why you chose me."

Cornelia looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're gorgeous, and strong, and half of Meridian's army was drooling over you. But you chose me, and I think I know why now."

"Oh?"

"You must have somehow known that we'd make him. And that he was worth all of… all of this." Aldarn gestured to himself.

Cornelia felt herself standing and walking to him, sliding her arms around his waist and smiling up at him. It was the most natural thing in the world.

"Not denying we made a great baby," she said, "But that isn't why I picked you."

"Oh? Then… why?"

"Well, if you want me to go with just one of the thousands of reasons… maybe it's because you're the only guy in the world who would think that."

She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Now come on, let's go see if we wanna give Orion a little sibling."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! If you did, please leave a review! Hell, even if you didn't, please leave one! I love all feedback and will respond to each review!**

 **This is actually part of a larger, next-gen type story I'm working on, so feedback is doubly appreciated for that reason!**


End file.
